# Second Most Obsessed SiFi/Fantasy Series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010 "2002-11-21T20:08:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/1 "2002-11-21T20:08:29Z")
I don’t think I need to make the argument that Tolkien is number one. Who is number two? You could argue that the creations of Lucas and Roddenberry both fit the bill but let’s limit ourselves to books. Personally I have no idea (Asimov’s _Foundation_?) but I am interested in what the SDMB can come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/2 "2002-11-21T20:10:41Z")
😕 What do you mean by “obsessed”? ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/3 "2002-11-21T20:11:59Z")
If I understand what you’re looking for, I’d say Frank Herbert/Dune. ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/4 "2002-11-21T20:24:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terminus Est \* > \*\*😕 > What do you mean by “obsessed”? \*\* Fair enough. Let’s call it “obsessed about by fans” Although Tolkien may well win the obsessed about by the author as well. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/5 "2002-11-21T20:27:16Z")
In that case, I’d say either Dune or Pern. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/6 "2002-11-21T20:35:06Z")
I dunno, the **Wheel of Time** fanatics can get pretty intense some times. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/7 "2002-11-21T20:39:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \* > \*\*I dunno, the **Wheel of Time** fanatics can get pretty intense some times. \*\* Yeah, but it hasn’t stood the test of time. Dune and Pern have both been around for 20+ years, IIRC. 'course, knowing Jordan, in twenty years he’ll still be writing the series, as he marches into the 300,000th page of descriptions of what every character is wearing. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/8 "2002-11-21T20:49:47Z")
Funniest dumb comment by an obsessed fan seen on a bulletin board (not this one): On a SW bb I actually saw these idiotic kids saying that Frank Herbert was just some wannabe and that he totally stole ideas from Lucas. I mean, his main character is a young boy on a desert planet! What a ripoff of Luke on Tatooine, huh?? They were told by me to go look at the copyright date on “Dune” and then come back and appologize. Kids these days… Dr. R. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/9 "2002-11-21T20:50:28Z")
A lot of people harp on Heinlien’s _Starship Troopers_, but they’re mostly complaining about the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/10 "2002-11-21T22:26:20Z")
When I was in high school, the Great Debate of choice among the theater geeks was Tolkein vs. C.S. Lewis, specifically, _The Lord of the Rings_ vs. _The Chronicles of Narnia_. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/11 "2002-11-21T22:38:53Z")
I’m not into the fan scene, for anything, but I find it hard to believe that Tolkien is more obsessed over than Star Trek. Everybody knows what a Trekkie is. How many Tolkien conventions are there? I may be talking…er, typing…out my nether regions here, but that’s my impression. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/12 "2002-11-21T23:28:15Z")
The OP said he wanted to limit to books, and while both Trek and Star Wars have books series out, their real weight is carried by TV and movies. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/13 "2002-11-21T23:38:22Z")
Oh, you’re right. Missed that.:o Well, in that case, I’d say the _Hitchhiker’s Guide_ series would have to be in the running. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/14 "2002-11-21T23:52:43Z")
Potter-philes now where is my toad??? ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/15 "2002-11-22T01:44:06Z")
OK, you guys seem to have it covered. I’m guessing saying ‘The Bible’ would be tactless, but how about a classic? Shakespeare? Homer? Fantasy has been around for ages and a _lot_ of people have liked Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![Merrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@Merrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merrin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/16 "2002-11-22T01:48:47Z")
I get the feeling that the “Shannara” series by Terry Brooks has some pretty hardcore fans too. It has been around for a good 25 years now but obviously is a pretty straight forward Tolkien rip-off, and least it is in the early books. Merrin ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/17 "2002-11-22T02:05:37Z")
Charles Dickens. Fans used to mob the docks when his books came in, shouting questions about the fate of their favorite characters in whatever his current serial was. Of course, now that he’s been dead a century, Dickens fans get to call themselves “scholars.” ---
**Author:** ![CthulhuSpawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@CthulhuSpawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CthulhuSpawn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/18 "2002-11-22T02:19:44Z")
A small, but nevertheless intense, group of fans worship the works of HP Lovecraft… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/19 "2002-11-22T03:52:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CthulhuSpawn \* > \*\*A small, but nevertheless intense, group of fans worship the works of HP Lovecraft… \*\* Ia! Ia! Lovecraft ftagn! Spill not the sacred secrets, **CS** , lest the Goat with a Thousand Young be summoned to shut your piehole… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010/20 "2002-11-22T03:53:30Z")
Oh, and anyone who doubts the obsession of Tolkien fans is invited to check out rec.arts.books.tolkien two days after Two Towers comes out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/second-most-obsessed-sifi-fantasy-series/138010.md?page=2)